Montréal

In the 1960s the rivalry between French and English speaking Canada meant that the country’s Grand Prix had two homes: Mosport Park one year and Mont-Tremblant the next. By 1970, however, Mont-Tremblant was deemed too dangerous and the race moved full time to Mosport Park.

In 1977 the French Canadians, motivated by the incredible success of Gilles Villeneuve, decided it was about time they built a race track. Building a new circuit simply wasn’t feasible, however, as time and money were against them. Their solution was simple and effective. Taking the Ile Notre-Dame, they connected all the island’s roads and made a circuit. The island had been the home of the 1967 World Fair (Expo’67) and was full of futuristic looking buildings. It was, everyone agreed, a perfect venue for a Grand Prix.

After $2m was spent on upgrading the circuit to Formula One standards, the first race was held there in October 1978. Gilles Villeneuve, in his first season with Ferrari, was yet to win a Formula One race, but at his home Grand Prix he took a memorable debut victory. Following his tragic death in 1982, the track was renamed in his honour.

His son, Jacques, never won at the track but some of the great drivers of the sport have taken the spoils here. Michael Schumacher holds the record of having won seven times in Canada. It is also the scene of Jean Alesi’s single Grand Prix victory in 1995, driving the number 27 Ferrari, the same car number which carried Gilles Villeneuve into the hearts of the Canadian Formula One fans.

( Via : formula1.com )

Qualy: Vettel storms to Canadian pole

Sebastian Vettel claimed his second successive Canadian pole position as he beat Lewis Hamilton to the coveted grid slot on Saturday.

The reigning World Champ came to the fore in Saturday’s final practice and carried that pace through to the afternoon’s all-important qualifying session.

Vettel clocked a 1:13.905 to take provisional pole on his first attempt but went even quicker on his second to ensure Hamilton had no chance of catching him.

The McLaren driver had to settle for second place, 0.303s down.

Fernando Alonso qualified P3 ahead of Mark Webber, Nico Rosberg and a resurgent Felipe Massa.

Times
01 Sebastian Vettel Red Bull 1:13.784 16 laps
02 Lewis Hamilton McLaren 1:14.087 0.303 22 laps
03 Fernando Alonso Ferrari 1:14.151 0.367 23 laps
04 Mark Webber Red Bull 1:14.346 0.562 19 laps
05 Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1:14.411 0.627 25 laps
06 Felipe Massa Ferrari 1:14.465 0.681 24 laps
07 Romain Grosjean Lotus 1:14.645 0.861 28 laps
08 Paul di Resta Force India 1:14.705 0.921 22 laps
09 Michael Schumacher Mercedes 1:14.812 1.028 18 laps
10 Jenson Button McLaren 1:15.182 1.398 24 laps
11 Kamui Kobayashi Sauber 1:14.688 0.008 21 laps
12 Kimi Raikkonen Lotus 1:14.734 0.054 22 laps
13 Nico Hulkenberg Force India 1:14.748 0.068 18 laps
14 Daniel Ricciardo Toro Rosso 1:15.078 0.398 21 laps
15 Sergio Perez Sauber 1:15.156 0.476 21 laps
16 Bruno Senna Williams 1:15.170 0.490 20 laps
17 Pastor Maldonado Williams 1:15.231 0.551 21 laps
18 Heikki Kovalainen Caterham 1:16.263 1.602 12 laps
19 Vitaly Petrov Caterham 1:16.482 1.821 10 laps
20 Jean-Eric Vergne Toro Rosso 1:16.602 1.941 12 laps
21 Pedro de la Rosa HRT 1:17.492 2.831 8 laps
22 Timo Glock Marussia 1:17.901 3.240 10 laps
23 Charles Pic Marussia 1:18.255 3.594 9 laps
24 Narain Karthikeyan HRT 1:18.330 3.669 9 laps

credit & thanks :  planetf1.com